UPDATE: ‘Pokemon Go’ Addresses Concerns With Google Account Access

Yesterday I reported that mobile gaming sensation ‘Pokemon Go’ inexplicably required iPhone gamers to give it full access to their Google accounts. This meant that the game was able to access and/or change any data within a person’s Google account.

That’s a distressing thought to a lot of users, who voiced their concerns about Pokemon Go’s access to their Google accounts. Game development company Niantic heard the concerns and quickly issued a solution.

An update to Pokemon Go, available now in the App Store, downgrades the app from having full access to your Google account to having just the bare minimum access. According to a statement given to TechCrunch, it was never intended for Pokemon Go to have that much access to an individual’s Google account in the first place.

Since launch, and going forward, Niantic assures that Pokemon Go only accesses your user ID and email address. No additional information has been collected by the app, and certainly won’t be going forward due to it’s new level of access.

To reduce the game’s access to your Google account, simply download the update from the App Store, which has resolved other issues with the game as well.